Preston City Mela is a CIC. Our fundamental aim is to provide an annual South Asian Arts, Craft, Music and Dance event that showcase culture, heritage and local talent. With its roots in the Indian subcontinent, the word Mela signifies ‘Fair/gathering’. Its tradition is to connect communities. In its modern usage, it is not only South Asian, but also an intercultural festival, which incorporates art, culture, music, dance, food and heritage. Mela provides the backdrop for community cohesion bringing together people from all walks of life sharing traditions and cultural experiences.
PCM delivers a high-quality, free event each year and a series of small outreach and development activities to increase audiences. We are presently focusing on an improved quality & greener creative offer on the day. Achieving this through organization & community capacity building via a series of skill development projects. Our new an more inclusive, diverse programme will highlight South Asian skills from the community and broaden the choice of artists, art forms and activities that sit alongside international talent.
Over the next few years, we want to further identify what makes Prestons Mela distinctive from others around the UK. Based on the foundation of a “homegrown, professional“ talent pool a determination to bring quality to all aspects of what we do. Designing an infrastructure within Preston, where creative’s in the South Asian community can be heard and develop their skills.